Designer Says No One Wants to See Curvy Women

Fall fashion is skinny business. Or so thinks famed designer Karl Lagerfeld, who has said that curvy women don’t belong on a catwalk.

Lagerfeld’s comments came after a German fashion magazine announced that, after years of “fattening up” models with Photoshop, it would only use “realistic” women instead of professional models.

When asked about it, Lagerfeld said the magazine’s decision was “absurd” and driven by overweight readers who don’t want to be reminded of their weight.

“These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly.” He added that the world of fashion was all to do “with dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women.”

While Lagerfeld has long had issues with size (he was angered when H&M produced his clothing line in larger sizes), he’s not alone in the ongoing pro-skinny push.

Ralph Lauren recently came under fire for an ad in which the model had been so slenderized through Photoshop that her head was wider than her waist (see left). Incidentally, the model in the ad, Filippa Hamilton, says she has been fired by the designer for being too heavy. Hamilton is 5’10” and weighs 120 pounds.

And shoe designer Christian Louboutin has raised eyebrows with his limited edition Barbie dolls, which will be released in upcoming months. Turns out Barbie needed to lose a few. “He found her ankles too fat,” says a Louboutin spokesperson.

Or as some commentators put it, Barbie has cankles! Who knew?

Do you think designers are going too far? Or is it just the nature of the fashion industry?

Featuring more “realistic” models in ad campaigns and on the catwalks is long overdue! Designers would sell more clothes if they offered a greater selection of larger-sized (and plus-size) clothes. Most American women fall into the plus-size demographic, yet it's an underserved group – it doesn't make any sense! To boost revenue and better serve women, designers should embrace these “fat mummies” and offer clothes for a rounder physique.

Featuring more “realistic” models in ad campaigns and on the catwalks is long overdue! Designers would sell more clothes if they offered a greater selection of larger-sized (and plus-size) clothes. Most American women fall into the plus-size demographic, yet it's an underserved group – it doesn't make any sense! To boost revenue and better serve women, designers should embrace these “fat mummies” and offer clothes for a rounder physique.

The pic of the Ralph Lauren model whose head is too big for her body is disturbing. That is NOT an appealing look. They need to make her more realistic looking and appealing to the eye if they want people to buy. Right now, she looks alien and unhealthy. Designers are eccentric and just trying to sell their products. Make real clothes for real women!

The pic of the Ralph Lauren model whose head is too big for her body is disturbing. That is NOT an appealing look. They need to make her more realistic looking and appealing to the eye if they want people to buy. Right now, she looks alien and unhealthy. Designers are eccentric and just trying to sell their products. Make real clothes for real women!

I'm so tired of men in the fashion industry saying that healthy sized, normal women are fat, and that anyone who doesn't look anoxeric is a cow. When the fashion industry and consumers stop catering to their ridiculous and unrealistic demands, only then will they change their outdated and negative attitudes toward women.

I'm so tired of men in the fashion industry saying that healthy sized, normal women are fat, and that anyone who doesn't look anoxeric is a cow. When the fashion industry and consumers stop catering to their ridiculous and unrealistic demands, only then will they change their outdated and negative attitudes toward women.

Great post. I think that it is both the nature of the fashion industry and the designers are going too far. I think these models are really not sexy or attractive but that may in a way be the point. If they sent a real good looking woman up there with real curves maybe everyone would look at her and not the clothes – but I don't think that's going through the designer's minds. I don't know how this is ever going to change, these designers seem to always want painfully thin women. I think that women need to know that most men do not find this look attractive and we'd rather they looked real. However, I do think that sending women up there who look almost freakishly different from the everyday woman may very well help sell clothes because it gets both men and women to look. But the thing women really should know is that men (at least the ones I know and me) don't think these women are attractive.

Great post. I think that it is both the nature of the fashion industry and the designers are going too far. I think these models are really not sexy or attractive but that may in a way be the point. If they sent a real good looking woman up there with real curves maybe everyone would look at her and not the clothes – but I don't think that's going through the designer's minds. I don't know how this is ever going to change, these designers seem to always want painfully thin women. I think that women need to know that most men do not find this look attractive and we'd rather they looked real. However, I do think that sending women up there who look almost freakishly different from the everyday woman may very well help sell clothes because it gets both men and women to look. But the thing women really should know is that men (at least the ones I know and me) don't think these women are attractive.

I think designers like Karl Lagerfeld think of fashion as “art,” not as real clothes, and are more concerned with how the clothes “hang” for art's sake. I'm sure they would rather have the things hanging on poles, really, except that poles can't move and make the fabric change shape and color. So they have to go to the next thing, which would be models shaped like poles.

But of course everything gets “reinterpreted” from the runway, making it more appropriate for real wear, including size and style. (Except, apparently, in Lagerfeld's case! He's clearly more concerned with “art” if he doesn't want H&M to produce his clothing in larger sizes!)

I just wish our daughters could understand that looking that skinny isn't any more realistic or desirable in the real world as is having the crazy makeup or hairstyles the couture models have on the runway. It's just a presentation tactic, like a pretty hanger.

But it's hard to make them understand that when the “skinny” image gets taken off the runway and pushed into magazines and commercials as well.

I think designers like Karl Lagerfeld think of fashion as “art,” not as real clothes, and are more concerned with how the clothes “hang” for art's sake. I'm sure they would rather have the things hanging on poles, really, except that poles can't move and make the fabric change shape and color. So they have to go to the next thing, which would be models shaped like poles.

But of course everything gets “reinterpreted” from the runway, making it more appropriate for real wear, including size and style. (Except, apparently, in Lagerfeld's case! He's clearly more concerned with “art” if he doesn't want H&M to produce his clothing in larger sizes!)

I just wish our daughters could understand that looking that skinny isn't any more realistic or desirable in the real world as is having the crazy makeup or hairstyles the couture models have on the runway. It's just a presentation tactic, like a pretty hanger.

But it's hard to make them understand that when the “skinny” image gets taken off the runway and pushed into magazines and commercials as well.

REAL woman do not always come in a size 2…. For those of us who stretch it to size 4 and 6 ( me personally) to those that wear a 8 and above, I think being conformed to the ” fashion Industry's” ideas of how thin women should be is unrealistic. How could they actually FIRE a 5'10″ young woman , weighing 120 lbs, for being ” overweight”???!! ARE YOU SERIOUS ?? I can only say that the Industry should be ashamed of itself… And the ' Photoshopped' photos..been going on for years. SHAME ON THAT, too. We are real women, who do believe in being fit and healthy, but we all do not wear a micro-size ( as does my Teenage daughter)…clothes are sized so small sometimes that even I can't wear the same size from one maker to the next. Shelli Segall clothes fit me great ( in a size 4);trying to wear a 4 in RL..DOES NOT HAPPEN. Too Small! So I think sizing should be more universal and these Designers need to understand that not everyone has the body of a 20 year old, much less a teenager….

REAL woman do not always come in a size 2…. For those of us who stretch it to size 4 and 6 ( me personally) to those that wear a 8 and above, I think being conformed to the ” fashion Industry's” ideas of how thin women should be is unrealistic. How could they actually FIRE a 5'10″ young woman , weighing 120 lbs, for being ” overweight”???!! ARE YOU SERIOUS ?? I can only say that the Industry should be ashamed of itself… And the ' Photoshopped' photos..been going on for years. SHAME ON THAT, too. We are real women, who do believe in being fit and healthy, but we all do not wear a micro-size ( as does my Teenage daughter)…clothes are sized so small sometimes that even I can't wear the same size from one maker to the next. Shelli Segall clothes fit me great ( in a size 4);trying to wear a 4 in RL..DOES NOT HAPPEN. Too Small! So I think sizing should be more universal and these Designers need to understand that not everyone has the body of a 20 year old, much less a teenager….

Would someone please tell me – – – what's attractive about a skeleton with skin? I just don't get it! The model, Filippa Hamilton, should be suing Ralph Lauren for tampering with her image. After all, isn't it the model's image that's her bread and butter in the field?

Would someone please tell me – – – what's attractive about a skeleton with skin? I just don't get it! The model, Filippa Hamilton, should be suing Ralph Lauren for tampering with her image. After all, isn't it the model's image that's her bread and butter in the field?

It's a shame with so many females fighting anorexia and bulemia that designers still use these photos of skinny, distorted sick looking models. Someone needs to open their eyes. No-one really wants to look like that. And leave Barbie alone. She has always been curvy with a tiny waist. Now thats a figure every girl envys.

It's a shame with so many females fighting anorexia and bulemia that designers still use these photos of skinny, distorted sick looking models. Someone needs to open their eyes. No-one really wants to look like that. And leave Barbie alone. She has always been curvy with a tiny waist. Now thats a figure every girl envys.

It's a shame with so many females fighting anorexia and bulemia that designers still use these photos of skinny, distorted sick looking models. Someone needs to open their eyes. No-one really wants to look like that. And leave Barbie alone. She has always been curvy with a tiny waist. Now thats a figure every girl envys.

It's a shame with so many females fighting anorexia and bulemia that designers still use these photos of skinny, distorted sick looking models. Someone needs to open their eyes. No-one really wants to look like that. And leave Barbie alone. She has always been curvy with a tiny waist. Now thats a figure every girl envys.

Being a model is so tough. You have to learn every step that you take to maintain your image. I am a model for 5 years already . When i started modeling things are getting to crazy and harder for me but thanks to Vedic Image Group they have shared to me their tip in developing image, Vedic Image is an image consulting group@866-565-7541 who had helped me so much in my fashion career

Being a model is so tough. You have to learn every step that you take to maintain your image. I am a model for 5 years already . When i started modeling things are getting to crazy and harder for me but thanks to Vedic Image Group they have shared to me their tip in developing image, Vedic Image is an image consulting group@866-565-7541 who had helped me so much in my fashion career